National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Time Out says

2 out of 5 stars

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Users say
(48)

4 out of 5 stars

Time Out says

2 out of 5 stars

Equal parts sub-‘Indiana Jones’ hokum and ‘Da Vinci Code’ clue-solving, 2004’s ‘National Treasure’ was so anodyne, it’s hard to believe this Bruckheimer-budgeted sequel/rerun is upon us. In the meantime, Nicolas Cage seems to have aged by ten years, and his acting style’s crankier than ever, all arbitrary outbursts and receding hairline.

Mind you, he’s dealing with a plot so bonkers it’s very existence is an affront to reason, as the quest to clear his family name combines with the search for a secret city of gold – treasure so secret that clues to its whereabouts are dotted from Paris to London and several US states. As villainous Ed Harris and his over-ripe Deep South accent take up the chase, Helen Mirren’s a welcome addition as Cage’s no-nonsense archaeologist mum, but the cast remain helpless in the face of the script’s contrivances. It’s so daft you can’t help the odd smile, but enough is clearly enough.

I can understand why this film came out so quickly, it appears the producers got the original script and got an eraser to replaced 'City of Gold' for 'Templar's Gold' and exchange the original locations for a few new exotic ones. This was barely a sequel but an utterly inept rehash of the first film... but this time filled with even more unbelievable set pieces - kidnapping the president, rifling around in the Queen's drawers and finding a secret city of gold just sitting under Rushmore? You don't need to suspend your belief for this one, you need a lobotomy.
What happened to Nicholas Cage? Once a great indie actor, he now fills his career with the most vacuous 99p store scripts he can get his hands on. Next? National Treasure? Ghost Rider? Movies must cost a lot of money to look that cheap. All I could look at were his Goebbels sunglasses and Trojan-dyed helmet. What was Helen Mirren thinking? Mind you, she does look absolutely mortified throughout the whole film.
A lot of the comments have suggested there are funny moments in this film. I can't remember any - unless you think Nicholas Cage acting like a maniac with a Dick Van Dyke English accent is hilarious then you are in for a treat. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting high art, but this was the pits. Don't let this movie ruin your day.

I can understand why this film came out so quickly, it appears the producers got the original script and got an eraser to replaced 'City of Gold' for 'Templar's Gold' and exchange the original locations for a few new exotic ones. This was barely a sequel but an utterly inept rehash of the first film... but this time filled with even more unbelievable set pieces - kidnapping the president, rifling around in the Queen's drawers and finding a secret city of gold just sitting under Rushmore? You don't need to suspend your belief for this one, you need a lobotomy.
What happened to Nicholas Cage? Once a great indie actor, he now fills his career with the most vacuous 99p store scripts he can get his hands on. Next? National Treasure? Ghost Rider? Movies must cost a lot of money to look that cheap. All I could look at were his Goebbels sunglasses and Trojan-dyed helmet. What was Helen Mirren thinking? Mind you, she does look absolutely mortified throughout the whole film.
A lot of the comments have suggested there are funny moments in this film. I can't remember any - unless you think Nicholas Cage acting like a maniac with a Dick Van Dyke English accent is hilarious then you are in for a treat. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting high art, but this was the pits. Don't let this movie ruin your day.

Reading the Timeout review of this film makes me wonder if the the reviewer is more interested in himself or the film! If the film makers took themselves as seriously as the reviewer then the review would be fair, but I doubt it! I cannot believe that the makers ever conceived of their work as more than mere entertainment, and that is what it is. Suspend your disbelief before viewing this film and, if you like action/adventure this film will be worth the money!!

Reading the Timeout review of this film makes me wonder if the the reviewer is more interested in himself or the film! If the film makers took themselves as seriously as the reviewer then the review would be fair, but I doubt it! I cannot believe that the makers ever conceived of their work as more than mere entertainment, and that is what it is. Suspend your disbelief before viewing this film and, if you like action/adventure this film will be worth the money!!

I don't usually write reviews, but alot of the comments above are just so unfair...
This is an Absolutely Awesome film
Suespend some believability and Go in expecting good action fun....
The film is fast paced,and fun
How would you get in to buckingham palace or the white house?
How would you go about meeting the President?
The Americans view of the british is just hilarious --- "time for some tea chaps"
Some scenes where i genuinely laughed out --
Nicolas Cage was on top form - He's not pretending to be indiana Jones but he comes across very inteligent and smart.
Perhaps a little complex for children, you have to follow the diaalogue and appreciate the characters motivations
credit where credits due - this is a fun movie i would definitely recommend

I don't usually write reviews, but alot of the comments above are just so unfair...
This is an Absolutely Awesome film
Suespend some believability and Go in expecting good action fun....
The film is fast paced,and fun
How would you get in to buckingham palace or the white house?
How would you go about meeting the President?
The Americans view of the british is just hilarious --- "time for some tea chaps"
Some scenes where i genuinely laughed out --
Nicolas Cage was on top form - He's not pretending to be indiana Jones but he comes across very inteligent and smart.
Perhaps a little complex for children, you have to follow the diaalogue and appreciate the characters motivations
credit where credits due - this is a fun movie i would definitely recommend

Pretty much the same as the first one. If you liked the first one you'll like this one. Something about Nicholas Cage is entertaining. A little bit above average but kind of entertaining although it could be shorter.

Pretty much the same as the first one. If you liked the first one you'll like this one. Something about Nicholas Cage is entertaining. A little bit above average but kind of entertaining although it could be shorter.

Pretty gd, i went to c it with my gf. it seems to miss the point that the first ational tresure was about the ultimate tresure, that a family have devoted generations and generations of searching to try and find, then the next film goes "phh, theres another tresure btw, the last one wasnt the ultimate tresure, it was just a good one" *sigh* this film should never of been released, ignoring the storyline and holw it makes no sense. its a ok film.

Pretty gd, i went to c it with my gf. it seems to miss the point that the first ational tresure was about the ultimate tresure, that a family have devoted generations and generations of searching to try and find, then the next film goes "phh, theres another tresure btw, the last one wasnt the ultimate tresure, it was just a good one" *sigh* this film should never of been released, ignoring the storyline and holw it makes no sense. its a ok film.

I think that this film was really good. I dont know what people are saying when they say its rubbish or isn't good. I went with 10 other people as ajoke but we all thought it wqs really good even though it isnt really our type of film. Everyone must go and see this movie. Youll seriously love it. Byee Byee =D =P xxxxxxxx

I think that this film was really good. I dont know what people are saying when they say its rubbish or isn't good. I went with 10 other people as ajoke but we all thought it wqs really good even though it isnt really our type of film. Everyone must go and see this movie. Youll seriously love it. Byee Byee =D =P xxxxxxxx

As usual you must suspend belief over what the average person can endure under extreme physical duress. If you can do this - then ignore the critic, sit back, and enjoy a 2 hour roller coaster adventure, with a happy ever after!

As usual you must suspend belief over what the average person can endure under extreme physical duress. If you can do this - then ignore the critic, sit back, and enjoy a 2 hour roller coaster adventure, with a happy ever after!

i dont what your all talkin about like "oh this is good but it gets bad ratings " ??? wtf ?? i think it loooks amazin and im deffo gunna see it sooooo .. if ya nt gunna recomend it dnt write nuffin ...

i dont what your all talkin about like "oh this is good but it gets bad ratings " ??? wtf ?? i think it loooks amazin and im deffo gunna see it sooooo .. if ya nt gunna recomend it dnt write nuffin ...

This is a fantastic adventure that will hook you into the story, for all the family to sit back and enjoy. Though this is a sequel, you neednâ€™t see the first movie just to enjoy this as this is a completely new adventure for Ben, Riley and Abigail. This escapade is based on one character; Ben, and his ambition to, try and clear his name from the murder of a president, and to find the city of gold.
It starts of in 1865, 5 days after the end of the civil war where Ben Gatesâ€™ great grand father is accused of killing Abraham Lincoln. He himself gets shot but gets enough time to tell his son a secret code. This code then gets passed down through the family until it reaches Ben. Then, a lost remnant fell into the hands of Benâ€™s archenemy Mitch Wilkinson. They end up travelling the world looking for clues and getting closer and closer every second. At one point they go through all the trouble of getting into the presidents office to find that their last clue isnâ€™t there. Itâ€™s in the book of secrets. Only the president knows where the book is. Will they find the book of secrets? Will they get caught? But most importantly, will they find the city of gold? After seeing this movie youâ€™ll want to go exploring yourself and get involved in a real adventure.

This is a fantastic adventure that will hook you into the story, for all the family to sit back and enjoy. Though this is a sequel, you neednâ€™t see the first movie just to enjoy this as this is a completely new adventure for Ben, Riley and Abigail. This escapade is based on one character; Ben, and his ambition to, try and clear his name from the murder of a president, and to find the city of gold.
It starts of in 1865, 5 days after the end of the civil war where Ben Gatesâ€™ great grand father is accused of killing Abraham Lincoln. He himself gets shot but gets enough time to tell his son a secret code. This code then gets passed down through the family until it reaches Ben. Then, a lost remnant fell into the hands of Benâ€™s archenemy Mitch Wilkinson. They end up travelling the world looking for clues and getting closer and closer every second. At one point they go through all the trouble of getting into the presidents office to find that their last clue isnâ€™t there. Itâ€™s in the book of secrets. Only the president knows where the book is. Will they find the book of secrets? Will they get caught? But most importantly, will they find the city of gold? After seeing this movie youâ€™ll want to go exploring yourself and get involved in a real adventure.

I understand that you must analyse every aspect of this film and rate accordingly. However, this film is magnificent. In order to be successful reviewer, you must put yourself in the shoes of the audience at which it is targeted. Being blinkard and hypocritical will not work. You are obviously the type of person that would enjoy a sad italian love film, so dont bother reviewing interesting ones, for all our sakes.

I understand that you must analyse every aspect of this film and rate accordingly. However, this film is magnificent. In order to be successful reviewer, you must put yourself in the shoes of the audience at which it is targeted. Being blinkard and hypocritical will not work. You are obviously the type of person that would enjoy a sad italian love film, so dont bother reviewing interesting ones, for all our sakes.

Finally people agree with me, I purly use this site for the film times and nothing else their reviews by people who I believe are professional take such a personnel biased view when writing thier reviews and quickly forget the target audience of the film they are writing about, Saw this film last nite great action packed friday nite film as good as the first and as witty, it ain't meant to win oscars simply entertain

Finally people agree with me, I purly use this site for the film times and nothing else their reviews by people who I believe are professional take such a personnel biased view when writing thier reviews and quickly forget the target audience of the film they are writing about, Saw this film last nite great action packed friday nite film as good as the first and as witty, it ain't meant to win oscars simply entertain